Avant-folk songs with Azure Carter (nice voice, plaintive at times, and
she occasionally gets close to Harry Partch’s speech-singing) and Alan Sondheim
who plays here all sorts of stringed instruments (violin, viola, guitar,
sarangi, saz, pipa, oud, etc.). Two sax players have guest appearances, but the
bulk of the record revolves around the duo. The mood is often bleak or at least
troubling, though some pieces (like “Credo”) are serene. The songwriting is
slack, leaving room for improvisation. Strange, interesting, and Sondheim is an
exceptional musician.

This group is a duo consisting of Paul Winstanley (electric bass,
effects) and Tom Nunn, a maker of odd home-made instruments that you scratch or
blow into, and that often involve rods and metal plates. An hour’s worth of
improvised happiness, dubious dialogues, and strange sonorities I had a hard
time associating to instruments with names like skatchbox, lukie tube, and
ghost plate. This soundworld is one of a kind.

Part of my 30th FIMAV haul. Ken Vandermark just launched his
own label and released two CDs by Audio One. An International Report includes
five brand new compositions, and this is the EXACT set list of the band’s
performance at FIMAV last Saturday, down to the order. And this is Vandermark
at his strongest. The band consists of 10 musicians based in Chicago, which
means easier rehearsals, which means more complex material. There’s only the
ballad “Vivre sa vie” that I feel is sub-par. The rest is grade A stuff,
especially “Encyclopedia of a Horse” and “Atlas of Madness”. Punchy writing,
killer sax line (Mazzarella, Rempis, Williams, Vandermark), and the presence of
the über-great vibes player Jason Adasiewicz. [Below: Listen to the album on
bandcamp.]